The Art of Not Exploding
To the High Scholars of the Shattered Citadel, magic is a divine song connecting mortals to the cosmos. To Roan, magic is a temperamental, lazy, and profoundly petty hazard that usually leaves him smelling like burnt lavender and cheap cabbage.
Expelled from the prestigious Citadel for pointing out that their sacred rituals were just overly complicated ways to light a candle, Roan survives as an underpaid hedge-mage in the muddy, soot-choked lower rings of Oakhaven. He isn't looking to save the world; he just wants enough silver to buy a warm coat and meals that don't consist of stale bread.
That quiet, cynical routine shatters when a chaotic alleyway encounter entangles him with a pair of ruthless mercenaries and a stolen black-market artifact—an ancient relic inscribed with lethal, untranslated magic. Lured by the promise of a life-changing gold payout, Roan agrees to do what he does best: break impossible magical wards using raw physics, questionable street smarts, and a complete lack of self-preservation.
The job forces him back into the gilded, arrogant halls of the elite Arch-Academy of the Arcane—the very institution that disgraced him. Surrounded by hostile Citadel enforcers, backstabbing scholars, and a mystery that threatens the city's fragile peace, Roan must rely on sheer spite and practical magic to uncover the truth before the ancient relic—or his own bad decisions—kill him first.
Table of contents
Latest Updates